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Community meeting on Parent Mentor Certificate at Edmonds Community College

03/20/2013

A Parent Mentor community partnership meeting is April 9 on campus.

A community partnership meeting at Edmonds Community College on the college’s Parent
Mentor certificate is 3:30-5:30 p.m., April 9, in Snohomish Hall 304, 20000 68th Ave.
W., Lynnwood.

Edmonds CC’s Parent Mentor Certificate is the outgrowth of the Washington Alliance
for Better Schools’ Natural Leaders program, where parents work with immigrant families,
acting as liaisons between public schools and families with limited English skills,
listening to their ideas on how to help their children be successful in school and
offering learning opportunities for children and families.

The certificate, part of Edmonds CC’s Family Support Studies department, helps Natural
Leaders gain career skills as parent mentors, family support workers, or family advocates.

Several Latina parent mentor students will share personal stories on how the program
has allowed them to attend college and improve their confidence while also helping
to support and strengthen our communities. They include 40-year-old graduate Carmen
Ziranda, who immigrated to Washington from Guadalajara, Mexico, who has been hired
by the Edmonds School District and is now helping Spanish-speaking families feel at
home in our schools.

The students, who are bilingual and bicultural, come from school districts, Head Start
programs, and ECEAP programs in Snohomish and King counties.

“This is a huge step forward for a lot of these women to attend college,” says Helen
Nissani, program director for the Parent Mentor Program. “Their stories are heartwarming
and inspirational at the same time.”

Students in the certificate program are taught simultaneously by English as a Second
Language and Family Support Studies instructors. They may also receive assistance
with financial aid and child care, as needed.